Kanto Mew Mew
by Yami Vizzini
Summary: AU from Hoenn League on Ash may have returned in triumph from the Hoenn League, but his problems are just beginning. Not only has Team Rocket sworn to take him out for good, but Giovanni has started cloning again....
1. Operation Grounding String

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, or any characters therein (except for Mewduo).

Prologue: Awakening

My office spreads out before me, created to combine form with function, and so far it's done so admirably. Right now, however, it isn't enough to keep me happy. My pet Persian, Kenshin, is taking a nap downtown at my house, and I lack moral support for this unpleasant business. I look at the two teenagers standing across my desk, trying to appear impassive but cringing ever so slightly. "Well? What have you got to say for yourself?" I'm not exactly shouting here, but the blue-haired boy and blond girl flinch nevertheless. I'm an intimidating person. Is that so wrong?

David Newman, better known as Butch, and Cassidy Vale struggle for words for a moment. I wait until Cassidy opens her mouth, then break in. "How many times have I had to bail you out from jail in the past couple of years? I can hardly remember how you two became Captains in the first place. I've waited to do this for far too long!"

"To do what?" Newman sneers. "Bust us back down to Rookie like those morons Jessie and James?"

"They were once Captains too, dear," Cassidy mutters worriedly. "When the Boss gets angry, anything is possible."

"But none of this has been our fault!" Butch mutters back.

"You can't very well say that it's not your fault, seeing as how it's been _your_ plans that have failed!" I break in, startling the partners and not bothering to correct them as to Jessica Miyamoto and James Halen's fate- their dues and expired ID cards built up so that the computers simply wrote them off and they had to rejoin as Rookies. God, life is funny sometimes! "Although, it is true that only after contact with a certain party has many a career... short-circuited." I can't help giggle as rage fills the two faces opposite me, although I can't blame them. When I review botched jobs, a smudgy-faced boy and an electric mouse pop up like a plague. A plague that has infected the media ever since Ashton Ketchum won the Hoenn League competition last month. Not just low-level bunglers, either- by all accounts, he was there when Erik's evolution ray project was destroyed, throwing substantial suspicion on him and all of Silph Enterprises, the beautiful scientific research company behind which the main Team Rocket branch operates. The fact that I, Jason Caligula Giovanni, Silph's illustrious CEO, have repeatedly bailed known criminals out of jail, doesn't help matters- otherwise, I would have bailed Carl Tyson and his squad by now. "Certainly Miyamoto and Halen's downward spiral only began after they began this misguided Pikachu vendetta. It seems to me that your records might all improve if you avoided this problem- and stopped this ridiculous infighting."

"What are you talking about?" Cassidy inquires.

The bad part is over. Now I just spring Plan A on these funny fellows. "You will get together with Jessica and James- they are currently on an assignment in Hoenn and form a task force to develop a plan to remove this pest Ketchum. Although others have aided him in the past, he appears to be the focal point for it all. Once he is taken care of, the opposition that he has led will fall apart."

"Work with those fools?" Butch practically screams. "Never!"

Okay, I'm the boss here, I'm not putting up with this crap!

"This is what I'm talking about!" I shout, leaping up from my chair. "This sort of thing has got to stop if you want to get your good reputations back!" I stop; they're halfway across the room. "Now, get going. The sooner you... Rookies get this done, the sooner you'll be back on top." They back slowly towards the stairs. I buzz-wave like Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element, and they turn around and scurry away.

I wait for a few minutes then follow their path down to the opulent lounge beneath and into the large circular elevator in the center. A secret card key opens a certain panel in the woodwork, and the button there sends me about halfway down to the lower stop- Erik's office.

The Silph tower is shaped like a cone without a point because the point sticks into a giant globe at the top. Just below this point is Erik's office. My office is the upper hemisphere of the globe, and the lounge takes up a bit of the space below. I decided to fill the rest of the space and smuggled scaffolding and all sorts of equipment into this room piece by piece after forging my own elevator door within, through which no other has ever gone. Besides the essentials, only a small part of the equipment, down near the floor, is currently lit up. I hurry down some stairs towards it.

For some time now, ever since that freaky night I found myself on an airfield with company Head of Security Domino, my heliship (the _Spartacus_), and the entire Combat Unit, with no idea how in the hell we'd gotten there, I have been plagued with the thought that I have tried and failed at something, and I have to try again. It's led me to immerse myself in genetic research and find the last remnant of a creature long dead, then enhance it. Now I see the result before me in a tank full of bubbly red liquid surrounded by computer banks.

I push a button. The wires attached to the dark hunched mass in the tank disengage and retract, the liquid drains, and the glass slides out of sight. The creature fully stands, almost as tall as I am. A biped covered entirely in white fur except for its lower torso and a long tail that show bluish brown skin. Two huge feet with peculiar balls set into the heels. Two bony arms with tri-fingered hands, each finger having another ball set into the end. Armorlike plates, also covered with fur, on its chest. A head with slanted eyes that now open, a barely visible mouth, and stubby ears that give it a vaguely feline appearance. All programmed to be loyal to no end, barely self-aware, christened in the ancient mother tongue.

"What is your name?" I demand.

A deep voice fills the air. "Mewduo..."

"And whom do you serve?"

"The lord of all that he surveys: Jason Caligula Giovanni..."

Kanto Mew Mew

Fit One: Operation Grounding String

It was an early summer's eve, and Ash Ketchum was restless.

He hadn't been back in Pallet Town long after his triumphant return from Hoenn, but even without outside stimuli, the trainer-adventurer blood within him would scream for a new quest. And outside stimuli were running rampant, telling him that there was a quest for him. Over the past couple of weeks on his way back, he had heard of numerous capers across the countryside that the police seemed unable to stop. _Team Rocket's up to it again,_ he could sense. It was little consolation that the bumbling crooks had not pestered him since before the tournament- especially since that meant they were too far away for him to intervene. Not that he'd cared about distance, but May, Max, Brock, Misty (who had rejoined the group at the start of the Hoenn League competition), and the Pikachu now perched on his shoulder had given him a sense of proportion.

So now he was here, continually hearing of the devastation continually being wrought where he continually wasn't.- Except he hadn't heard anything about it during the last few days. Weird.

"Pika, pikachu ka," the electric mouse said, sensing his uneasy thoughts. Ash turned his head and smiled. "Yeah, I guess no news is good news in this case." But he still couldn't help but wonder...

"Ash! Oh, Ash!" There was his mom again, calling out for him for dinner. "Well, you can't think on an empty stomach," the young adventurer said to his rodent pal, who leapt from its perch and ran alongside Ash down to the cabin, unaware that five pairs of eyes were watching them steadily.

"There goes the twerp again," Jessie Miyamoto, devious yet bumbling Rookie Rocket (B-Level in official terms) noted. "Can't he just wander off so we can grab him and get this thing over with?"

"Guess he's famished," said her blue-haired partner, James Halen, having heard Delia Ketchum's call. "So am I, for that matter," he suddenly moaned. "Can't we just crash the party down there and grab some ch-OWW!"

"Why can't you tink wi' your head for once instead of your stomach?" screamed the talking scratch-cat Pokemon, Meowth, as he applied a Fury Swipes to James's face. "We gots a better chance o' success if he an' dat Pikachu are all alone, remembah? Da boss gave orders dat we hold our fire until we got 'em trapped, far from help... isn't dat right?" he asked, with a suspicious look at his group's temporary allies.

Cassidy Vale grinned. "Exactly. And we have a better chance of doing that if you keep it down, you furball," grabbing Meowth's forehead charm to restrain him.

"Ack, sorry, I just got carried away by da moment, dat's all. To tink we're finally gonna carry da day against dat twerp, and Pikachu'll be ours!"

"Heh, we could've done that ages ago," rasped Butch Newman.

"I don't recall you having any more luck against those kids that we did." James giggled at the memory of his rivals' numerous downfalls. "I certainly notice you're not wearing your fancy Elite uniforms anymore." Butch and Cassidy had traded in their customary uniforms for ones that looked more like J&J's custom-made ones but were black instead of white.

"Well, most of the time, you were helping them, you morons!" Butch shot back.

"You boys can argue later," Jessie interrupted. "We need to keep watch." And so the crooks settled back down... and waited... to put Operation Grounding String into action.

Ash's nerves still hadn't calmed down after dinner, so he decided to work off his adrenaline with a training session. He headed out beneath the moonlight that had already started to shine, Pikachu tagging along behind him, to the area where he had trained for the Indigo League two years before. Had it really been that long? And it had been another year earlier that he had first started his Pokemon journey, and met Misty, Pikachu, and Brock. _How time flies... hey... how come I thought of Misty first just now, even before Pikachu? Weird..._ He shook his head quickly and let Pikachu jump onto his shoulder, then walked along, humming a little walking tune he'd picked up a few week back- much to the chagrin of the others, as he was somewhat lacking in vocal ability. But now, screw them, he could sing to himself if he wanted to. "I was walkin'... I was talkin'... I was talkin' to myself last nAARGH!"

His whimsical ditty was cut short by the ground beneath him giving way, and the subsequent pains of landing flat on one's back on hard underground. "Oh, not this... not now..." As if on cue, a hyperannoying poem materialized from above.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation..."

"To unite all peoples within our nation..."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love..."

"To extend our each to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Wo-ob-buf-fet!"

"Oh, for the love of Ho-oh..."

But the torment wasn't done yet...

"Prepare for trouble..."

"And make it double..."

"To infect the world with devastation..."

"To blight all peoples within our nation."

"To announce the goods of truth and love..."

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"Butch!"

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth each day and night!"

"Surrender now or you shall surely lose the fight!"

"Not you two too!" Ash had gotten over the initial shock of his disrupted walk and was now just mad. "What do you think you're doing, coming here?... And since when do you four get along?"

"FIVE! Don't forget me-owth!" The feline wisecracker piped up.

"The same as always, little twerp." Jessie grinned down into the pit. "We want that powerful little Pikachu of yours- and this time were getting it for sure!"

"That's what you always say- and how come you've teamed up all of a sudden?"

"Doesn't a girl have a right to change her mind?" Cassidy elbowed Jessie aside. "Plus we've decided to put an ultimate end to these little annoyances of yours.-" The blond Rocket girl was displaced again by the redhead. "Hey, this is my speech!" "You talk too much as is!" "MEEEOWWWTH!" Meowth deployed his Fury Swipes once again to break up the argument as Butch stepped forward, grinning at his trapped foes and pulling out a Pokeball. "I think it's time for Operation Grounding String to begin... Onix, I choose you!" The giant rock snake appeared in a flash of red light. "Earthquake attack!"

The Onix dived at Ash and Pikachu. The boy grabbed his Pokemon under one arm and rolled up against the side of the pit so Onix missed, then grabbed onto the giant Pokemon, climbing up it as it dug itself into the ground. _What do they think I am, a fish in a barrel?_ he thought. _I'll_

_show them..._

"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash called, releasing the crocodile Pokemon, one of several he had retrieved from Professor Oak upon his return. "Water Gun now!" "Dile!" The stream of spray struck the rock snake, knocking it back. Suddenly, Ash felt a sharp tug around his waist, and turned to see a Fearow and Wingull rip his Pokeball belt off with their beaks. "Oh, crap..."

"Pii-kaa-CHUUUUU!" The electric mouse leaped into the air to retrieve his friend's Pokemon, releasing a stupendous Thunder attack. Only it wouldn't work. "Wobbuffet, Mirror Coat!" screamed Jessie to the blue blob that had suddenly slithered up the Onix and leaped in front of Pikachu, who suddenly fell 15 feet to the ground, fried by his own attack.

_Oh, no..._ Now Totodile was all Ash had left, and though he knew it could take a lot, it was too much to hope that it could take care of all of this task force, as Onix, Fearow, Wingull, and Meowth all moved in. Cacnea and Seviper appeared in twin flashes of scarlet light and joined. Even Wobbuffet stood by, ready to help. Unable to call Totodile to safety, since its Pokeball was with all of the others, he could only watch helplessly while trying to get to the ground. His only hope now was to fight his way out of this mess himself and get to the others. _Geez, Misty's never gonna let me live _this _down..._

As a Body Slam from Onix finally sent the weakened croc into dreamland, Ash hopped to the dirt and turned to run- but instead found himself face to face with a grinning Butch. _Aw, this guy is worse than Jason Voorhees!_ Ash groaned inwardly. And true to form, he was holding some... _thing_ pointed at Ash. Some thing that suddenly sprayed a blue mist at him. Ash was perhaps not the brightest bulb on the tree, but even he knew this stuff when he saw it. _Sleep Powder! Oh my... oh... oh n-_ His panicked thoughts suddenly gave way to a yawn as he collapsed, the world spinning 'round him, certain he heard wicked laughter coming from every direction...

The moonlight that had seen Ash and Pikachu off on their ill-fated training also gleamed off of the larger buildings, not at all tall enough to be called "skyscrapers", of Viridian City, illuminating a solitary figure perched on one of them. Mewtwo sighed. All of this time since that misguided venture on New Island, since his confrontation with Giovanni in Purity Canyon, and he didn't know what the hell to do with his life. The only thing he knew for sure was that this wasn't it.

_How humans and Pokemon are able to coexist so peacefully, despite being so different... _he wondered, doing his maudlin thing. _Why is it that I cannot find that balance?_ He turned away from his view to think- and saw himself staring back at him. "Who- what _are_ you?" he asked in his psychic voice.

"I... am... Mewduo..." the doppleganger feline replied, in a tone that seemed to Mewtwo devoid of any real consciousness or autonomy. "My master... has sent me... to search for elements that can be... _useful_ to him. You... seem like me, and therefore powerful... You shall come to him."

"And what if I do not want to do so?" Mewtwo shot back, somehow aware that the only person unbalanced enough to create this thing was the one he had already escaped.

"Then... I will _make_ you..." The other clone seemed to grin, despite its lack of anything remotely resembling a mouth- and was rudely interrupted by a crackling energy ball that crashed into it. "Resistance... is... _futile..._" It pulled back, then blasted a Hyper Beam at Mewtwo, who barely dodged as the beam instead hit the roof of the fortunately abandoned tower.

"Two can play at that game, copycat," Mewtwo snarled, sending out his own Hyper Beam, which zapped Mewduo, enervated from its powerful attack, straight-on. As Mewtwo kept up the pulsing beam, his foe started to glow with bluish energy, so he could only see its silhouette. A silhouette that suddenly underwent mitosis. Mewtwo stopped the attack in shock.

Mewduo still floated there, singed, but mostly simply as confused as his double. The reason for this confusion was there next to him. _Something_ floated there that resembled the two combatants, but seemed a head taller (although height was hard to judge when you were floating more than your own height off the ground anyway) and had a sharp thing that looked like a stinger on the end of its tail. The thing looked around, then announced, "I am Mewtres."

Mewduo replied, "The master... shall find you... _interesting..._" and turned towards it, glowing slightly- obviously, it was not going to make the same mistake as it had with Mewtwo. The blast came so suddenly that Mewduo never had a chance, blown into the top of another building by a Hyper Beam.

Mewtwo practically screamed, "How DARE you! He didn't DO anything yet!" Not bothering to see if Mewduo had survived, he flew towards the new arrival- then came to a screeching halt, surrounded by black light if that makes any sense;; this Mewtres had powers beyond even Mewtwo's comprehension. The freakish cloned clone hovered over to his rival- then his tail arched up and over, Mewtwo realizing that the thing that resembled a stinger was exactly that a split second before it sent him into unconsciousness.

Mewtres watched his defeated opponent's body fall onto the roof. It looked around for a moment- then flew off, in search of something else to do.

End Fit One


	2. The Mewtres Cometh

Disclaimer: Look, I don't own Pokemon, Ash, PIkachu, Mondo or any of them, 'kay! You've gotten the idea by now!

I did take the liberty of completing the names of a few characters, and the girl scientist in this chapter is my first original character (more about her in the future).

Fit Two: The Mewtres Cometh

"Why does Ash always have to go off like this?" Misty grumbled to no one in particular. It had been over an hour, and the young Master-in-training had not returned. "He can be so insensitive..."

"Be patient with him, Misty," admonished the older boy sitting near her in the Ketchum house's living room. "He's just come back from another League; he could use some down time..."

"Well, there's no reason why he can't spend it with his friends- I mean besides Pikachu!" The redhead knew that Brock Fontaine often knew best about these things, but right now she was too annoyed to care. "Not that I'm exactly aching to go off on another journey... and keep getting lost... in forests... with bugs..." She shuddered. "I just think that he could stay put for once. Anyway, he said he was training. That's not exactly resting.

"Nothing wrong with keeping the team in shape," interjected Tracey Sketchit, the "second third wheel".

"Well, he _has_ been outside for a while," responded the other redhead present, Ash's mother Delia. "He really shouldn't stay out that late; it's almost his bedtime. My little Ashy-boy needs his rest."

Though everyone sweatdropped a little, they didn't respond; they knew how worried Delia could get about her son- and, while it had a kind of ditzy exterior, there was a strong spirit underneath. Misty remembered how Ash's mother had stowed away on the news copter during the Lugia crisis three years before, just because she knew her son was in the thick of the unbalanced weather.

Three years. Had it really been that long? And Misty had felt even then like she had known him all her life. It seemed like her world had collapsed around her when he had fallen into the ocean... Now, she had the same sinking feeling.

She stood up suddenly and announced, "I'm going to look for him." Then quickly added, "Even _he_ isn't usually this dumb." And before anyone could respond, she grabbed her jacket and walked out.

The stars were appearing one by one as the sky darkened and Misty jogged towards the woods. _What the heck is he doing out here?_ she thought worriedly- more worriedly than she would care to admit- especially to Ash. Some inexplicable foreboding tugged at her mind; she tried to shake it off and continued.

As she moved through the forest, she could hear the rustling of unseen Pokemon and other animals. She repressed the fearsome images that appeared in her head. _Get a grip on yourself,_ she thought; _Ash hasn't been devoured by Weedles._ The ridiculous thought made her chuckle, easing her nerves somewhat- until something dropped into her hair, eliciting a scream and a furious swipe at her head that knocked a surprised Weedle to the ground. The centipede Pokemon scurried back into the bushes. Heart pounding, Misty pressed on.

She had no sort of watch with her and didn't realize that she ended up fruitlessly searching for longer than Ash had been gone in the first place. Misty had thought she saw a trail of footprints early on, but the path was pretty well trod and she had lost them near an area that was especially mussed, as if a large Pokemon like an Onix had somehow slithered through the area.

Now she surveyed the area from the top of a cliff, hoping to spot something helpful, but a dark cloud was drifting in front of her spirit; something, somehow, was terribly wrong. Twilight had now deferred to dusk, going on nighttime proper, and the stars now speckled the sky like glitter. There was even a low one that almost looked purple! As beautiful as the view was, however, it couldn't ease her mind.

Then she squinted.

The purple star was lower in the sky than it had seemed at first, and almost looked smaller. Wait- why, that wasn't a star at all, and whatever it was was flying quickly from off in the distance- towards Misty!

"What the-" Misty decided to run and found she couldn't. She dimly sensed some purple light surrounding her, identical to that around the grotesque creature coming.

A scream choked and died in her throat.

He blinked; the hazy visions around him came into focus, and so did the memories. _I can't believe they actually got me,_ Ash thought angrily. _I mean, them!_

He was strapped to some sort of table in a whitewashed lab room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an older redheaded girl sitting, observing him. _Jessie?_ he wondered. But then where was James?

His captor stood and walked over. No, this was not Jessie. Her hair was more vivid, closer to orange than purple, and fell down in a ponytail almost to her waist. Also, she had on a lab coat like you'd expect to see around this sort of place, and and almost no visible expression on her face. _She looks almost like Misty... might be kind of cute without that blank stare... Eew, what am I thinking? She's as old as Jessie! ...And since when am I thinking of Misty as _cute! _Shut up!_ Ash told himself. He shook his head only to find that he couldn't.

"Hey 'Mondo', he's awake!" the girl called. A dark-haired boy maybe a couple years older than Ash appeared on the other side of the table, clad in the same type of white TR uniform that James wore.

Though still somewhat doped, Ash queried as sharply as he could, "Who the heck..." but was cut short when the girl yanked his ear and said, "Save your breath. After Dr. Sebastian arrives, he and Giovanni will undoubtedly have a lot to ask you."

Sebastian... that sounded familiar. The girl walked over to something else, and Mondo leaned over Ash and whispered, "Don't mind her- she can be pretty snippy when she's working, but she's OK otherwise." He suddenly straightened up, snapped around, and saluted as something hissed. Ash looked up (as much as he could) to see part of the wall slide open (there was no visible door) for a moment to admit a tall, pale man wearing a lab coat and a goatee beard. He had a mop of raven hair (matching his beard) that resembled Ash's own, except it (like the beard) was much more neatly trimmed. Mondo actually seemed afraid of him; however, his other captor didn't give a visible reaction at all.

It hit Ash in a second. "You were working on the evolution ray up near Mahogany Town!" The scientist did not respond; he walked over to the girl, who said, "His vital signs are stable," as if answering a question. Sebastian nodded, and Ash felt his restraints release. He tried to rush his captors, but found himself overcome by a headache as soon as he sat up, like when you get dizzy after standing up quickly to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

Dr. Sebastian walked over to Ash. "You're a persistent one," he said; "it's a good thing we finally have you under control." He whirled round and ordered, "Escort him to Giovanni. I'm sure he'll want to meet this lad in person." He chuckled and walked away as Mondo and the other scientist grabbed Ash, hustling him through the once-again-open wall panel after their superior. Then the panel closed on an empty room.

End Fit Two


	3. To The Third Power And Beyond

Disclaimer: You get the idea. I don't own Pokemon- or Mick Jagger...

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but every time I tried to upload this thing it displayed the HTML on the page. Hopefully switching to Word will solve the problem.

And now to be a bit responsive (I like to know I'm being read, and I like getting responses to reviews myself, so here goes):

Star AJT 84: Thanks for reviewing! At any rate, I've started your story with Team Hunter, although I've kind of swamped myself with reading, which is one reason why I don't update enough.

Blood Vampire: Yeah, I wanted an original name. Besides, if no one remembers Mewtwo, why would they call the next one "three"?

Kaxanthedragon: Thanks for pointing that out (;).

Clashachu: Thanks. I hope two days is soon enough for you….

Fit Three:

To The Third Power...

And Beyond

Brock looked around. This was starting to get worrying; Misty had been gone now even longer that Ash had been. He wasn't the type to panic, but still- what was going on out there? He looked up expectantly as the door opened, but it wasn't either of the two young trainers. "Any luck?" he asked.

"There's no sign of them," Professor Samuel Oak replied. The aging researcher had stopped by the Ketchum residence earlier on an evening jog and, being briefed on the situation, decided to go look for Ash and Misty. Tracey had gone with him, while Brock and Delia had remained at the house in case the young trainers returned by themselves.

"Something's wrong, somehow. Something's terribly wrong." The young "Pokemon watcher" standing behind the Professor spoke everyone's mind. "I don't care how dark that forest is or how much Ash gets into his training or even- sorry Mrs. Ketchum- even how much of a plain idiot he can be sometimes-" (Delia only sighed; mothers are more aware than anyone else of their children's shortcomings) "-he shouldn't have been gone this long," Tracey went on, "and neither should Misty!"

"We're not going to get anywhere by all of this worrying." Brock tried to calm his friend down, walking over to the door.

"Well, we have to do _something!_'" cried Delia, and everyone started talking at once, almost drowning out the explosion that suddenly erupted some way off.

Caught off guard, the four realized that the bast had come from the hill where Professor Oak's lab was. "Gary!" Samuel cried (his grandson had stayed at the lab to watch the equipment), and they all ran down the road to the inferno.

At the top of the hill, they relaxed a little; Gary, a little dazed but none the worse for wear, had stumbled from the flames and now met them at the top of the steps. "Grandpa... we need to get the Pokemon..."

"Gary, Pokeballs are fireproof, remember? Otherwise a Charizard or something like that could break free easily. As long as the roof doesn't fall and open the balls, they're safe."

"I think that'll be okay. Thanks Brock, I'd forgotten about that."

"What happened?" Samuel asked, but before his spiky-haired grandson could reply, beams of dark energy started striking the ground around them. As the dust settled, they could see someone walking towards them.

"...Misty?" Delia and the rest could scarcely believe their eyes. Gary, however, just shouted "Get down!" Everyone dived as another bolt flew right over them.

"It was so sudden," Gary explained. "She just walked in, and I wanted to ask her where she'd gone- Grandpa told me he was looking for her- but she started saying this weird stuff like 'Witness my power, pathetic human,' with this freaky look in her eyes. I thought she was on LSD or something, but then she started shooting energy beams out of her hands. I know, it sounds like I've been watching too much DBZ, but..." He shrugged in frustration.

"It almost sounds like something is possessing her," Brock mused.

"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do about it?"

"Gary!"

"Sorry, Gramps."

"Crobat, go!" cried Brock as he threw out a Pokeball. The purple bat appeared in a flash of light. "Use Supersonic!" Crobat shrieked its sonic attack as the group all plugged their ears. The redhead 20 feet away shrieked in pain and collapsed, clasping her hands to her head. The others looked closer, it seemed that something was flowing out of her ears. Afraid that Crobat had done her permanent damage, they raced towards her but stopped short as she began to groggily get up- and the slimy substance congealed into a tall shape.

Brock was the only one in the group who been at Purity Canyon and seen Mewtwo (for the second time, though he didn't realize it), and this creature's resemblance to the angsty telekinetic was nothing short of eerie. "What are you?" he demanded of it.

It gave a basso chuckle in that mouthless voice trademark of psychic Pokemon like Mewtwo or Lugia. "Personal, aren't we? All you need to know about me is that I am far more powerful than you will ever be. ...Then again, the conquerer's name should be the last thing the conquered hears... I am called Mewtres."

"Oh, you're French- figures", quipped Gary- who then screamed as black light enveloped him.

"Mock me not. I overpowered your friend here-" the creature indicated Misty, who had started to head towards the others- "easily enough, and I will defeat you all. I will suck the life from you until there is nothing left"- the basso was crescendoing rapidly- "starting with this insolent plebeian-"

"MIIIIIIIIIIIME!"

A multicolored beam of light struck Mewtres, and the others all whirled to see where it came from. "Mimey!" Delia called- for it was her loyal Mr. Mime, who had also hurried over at the sound of the explosion. The eerie glow around Gary faded, and he slowly got up as Misty joined them.

Mr. Mime's Psybeam (for that was what it was) continued to jolt Mewtres, but something was different- instead of keeling over, Mewtres's silhouette was becoming more imposing, doubling, tripling- wait a minute, it _was_ doubling and tripling-

The mime Pokemon finally stopped it attack, but the damage had been done.

Everyone, including Mewtres, stared at the grotesqueries that were now standing near the ferocious feline, looking around at each other and everyone else.

The evil clone was the first to break the silence.

"So," he chuckled, "this is what it's like to have brothers."

He looked up as the door opened, pausing the mp3 on the computer and wiping his face clear of refried beans. He felt almost embarrassed at the unimposing setting for his "interview", but it wouldn't have done at all to have the boy take in the vista from his own office and figure out where he was; no, best to have him brought to one of the smaller spare offices towards the inside of the tower.

Ash was hustled in by his captors, Dr. Sebastian gliding in behind and securing the door. The young trainer stared at the man sitting behind the desk. He had seen him before, he remembered. At Purity Canyon; yes, he had been with Domino and Team Rocket. One of the leaders, apparently, judging from his suit. Apparently he was trying to be stylish, but being sophisticated is hard when you're dressed like Jim Carrey in _Dumb and Dumber_ and holding a burrito. All the same there was a cold suaveness to him.

"Ah hello, I see you're done with your nap." He grinned.

"Sir?..." Mondo ventured hesitantly.

"Oh- Mondo, Elaine, you can go now." Ash's captor waved his arm and the two younger Rockets left the room, Mondo scurrying ahead of the girl in the lab coat. As the door closed, he continued, "Well, I must say, I'm glad we finally get to have this little chat."

"What, no poems?" Ash snapped.

"If my underlings wish to express themselves through drawn-out personal mottos, that's their business." The man rolled his eyes. "I prefer to get down to business as soon as possible."

"Which is what, exactly?"

The man grinned. "You've been quite a nuisance for quite a long time. I sometimes wonder how much better off things would be for both of us if we, ah... aligned our long-term goals."

"In other words, become a Pokemon thief like you?"

"Oh that hurts. _I_ don't actually go around swiping from people. _I_ do the planning; but mostly I'm the enigmatic Giovanni, Viridian Gym Leader, respected Pokemon League member, and high-living corporate executive." He grinned again.

"Which explains why Jessie, James, and Meowth were in charge of the place when I was there.

"Huh? Why would I..." Giovanni's voice trailed off for a moment. "Yes... I guess I _did_ leave them in charge... but darned if I can remember why." Whatever errand he had taken with Mewtwo that fateful day was gone from his mind along with the errant psychic Pokemon itself. "All I remember is coming back and finding that my Gym had been razed; so while it's being rebuilt, I focus on my other operations."

"Such as Silph Enterprises..." Ash said, half to himself.

"How did you know about that?" Giovanni's eyes went buggy. "I mean, I'm pretty high-profile, but I didn't think you paid much attention to things like that."

"A friend of mine who wants to be a Pokemon researcher has read up on you guys." This was true; after Ash had returned to Pallet and started hanging out more with Professor Oak's grandson, Gary had waxed eloquent on the hyper-high-tech research corporation, apparently unaware of the true identity of the man behind the wheel. "He was especially interested in the Deputy Director or something-" he stared behind him- "Dr. Erik Sebastian." Erik stared back, impassive.

"Bravo, bravo," Giovanni clapped. "You really know your stuff. See, this is why I think we could really work well together."

"You're all criminals," Ash spat. Yet a thought occurred to him- why hadn't he heard more in the news about Erik that what he had heard from Gary? Lance had surely pointed the finger at him after the whole evolution ray project went bust. Yet if Gary knew about it, he hadn't mentioned it to Ash...

"We're quite invulnerable from the public end of things." Ash, stunned that his captors could follow his train of thought that well, turned to face Erik, who was smirking. "It is well known that Lance Lamont, while honorable enough, has a rather... _unrestrained_ lifestyle; it's how he copes with the job. It is the opinion of many thinking persons that he was not quite _lucid_ during his Lake of Rage investigation. How could he be, implicating such a noted figure as myself?" Ash was seething in his chair.

"You see?" Giovanni picked up the discussion. "It's really in your best interest to join us. You've reached the pinnacle of your Pokemon training career. With your talents, you deserve more. You can help reshape the world according to your own desires."

"I can go jump off a cliff!" Ash planted his feet on the floor, shoved, and flew backwards into Erik Sebastian, who fell to the floor, tangled in the chair. Ash darted to the door, opened it, and ran out, closing it behind him.

"I still think it's too risky, Jason," Erik admonished, after standing back up and righting the chair.

"We need to give him a sense of security, _amice_," Giovanni replied. He's not going anywhere. Head off to your other duties, I'll call you again when I need you." Erik turned and glided from the room.

_Now it's up to me_, thought Jason, turning back to his computer. he called up the security images displaying the fleeing captive and let Mick Jagger resume asking for the honky-tonk blues. As a last bit of routine, he called up the latest bits of online news.

His eyes bugged out for the second time that day.

"ROGUE MONSTER BATTLE- APPARENT CLONE POKEMON"

He called it up and read further.

"Oh hell..."

So much for Mewduo.

But what was the other Pokemon that looked exactly like it?

To Be Concluded...


	4. When The Electric Rat's Away, The Cats W

Disclaimer: Do I own Pokemon? Do I update on a regular basis? Well hopefully one of those will change soon….

This story is dedicated to the memory of Ms. Mary Miggins, Latin teacher and friend to all. Yes, it can be that easy...

Fit Four:

When The Electric Rat's Away, The Cats Come Out To Play

There were three or four of them, or perhaps more; it was hard to tell in the dusk, for they seemed to have black fur. Other than that, they bore a vague resemblance to Mewtres. In short, they were bad news. Like their progenitor, they had assimilated the facts of the world around them strangely quickly and could therefore respond to Mewtres's statement.

"You think we are kindred to you?" one's psychic impulses intoned. "You are far weaker than we."

"But I gave you life!" returned Mewtres.

"Then you are not our brother, but our parent," chuckled another (whom we shall call Mewquinque, the previous one being Mewquattuor). "And all life eventually supersedes its predecessors in some form; _you_ should know that." (It was a sort of enhanced "species consciousness" that gave each generation of Mews a vague impression of its ancestors' experiences; in most creatures besides powerful psychic Pokemon, it is very weak. That was what Mewtwo was dreaming at the beginning of the first movie, and these even stronger Pokemon contain it as conscious memory. But enough technobabble...)

The humans (and Mime) clustered in the middle of all this didn't know what was going on and didn't particularly care, except for the fact that the creatures' attention was briefly diverted from them.

"How are we supposed to beat those things?" Tracey voiced everyone's mind. None of them, except for Misty, was even a serious trainer anymore, and in all likelihood a navy full of Gyrados couldn't faze the creatures, let alone a few water-types. Maybe Togetic could have helped, but it was, after all, back in Hoenn with the Togepi kingdom on Mirage Isalnd.

Suddenly, Gary felt something brush his legs. Instinctively he looked down- and breathed a sigh of relief.

When he had switched from full-time training to helping his grandfather with his research, Gary had let his Pokemon free on the expanse of land behind the lab. However, he had finally started to grasp that "Pokemon as friends" thing for which he had constantly berated his former rival, and, besides constantly visiting his widespread Pokemon, he had gained a constant companion in the Umbreon evolved from the Eevee that the professor had saved for him so long ago. His friend had been napping in his room while he was getting a snack, and Gary had not remembered for a few hectic minutes. Now, he finally smiled.

"Persephone... you're all right," he said quietly. His sharp mind registered that her dark-type attacks held an advantage over psychics- but against so many powerful foes, more would be needed. And yet...

"Guys, I think I have an idea," he said, and the others leaned in to listen...

Meanwhile, the clones had started arguing over who would get to absorb the energy of their progenitor, and soon Hyper Beams were flying every which way. A few of the smaller clones had already been reduced to dust. Mewtres, however, was hovering some distance away from the action, watching, with no notice taken by the other clones.

Suddenly, he saw some of the clones glowing black and slumping over as attacks were about to hit them, helping the Hyper Beams do their work. He reflexive cast his mind across the battlefield, and realized what was happening. He grinned, secretly grateful to whatever powers controlled destiny that the humans were making life a bit easier for him.

He wasn't worried that it could harm him. If he stayed out of the way until all or most of the clones were gone, he could absorb their energy; and he knew that the humans couldn't actually destroy him by themselves.

As it was, the clones were being forced to drop their guard for brief moments by Persephone, Gary's Umbreon, who sent out _gratis_ Faint Attacks which had been concentrated, a word which here means "sent through a funnel of psychic mirrors created by a Mr. Mime so it was powerful enough to incapacitate even uber-powerful psychic Pokemon". _I still can't believe this is actually working,_ thought Brock. _I always knew Gary was a good strategist, but I could never imagine how to defeat something as powerful as Mewtwo, let alone these things. Maybe he just knows how to use their arrogance against each other because he used to be like that himself._ He shrugged. By now, all of the monsters appeared to have been vaporized, leaving only a mass of something that looked like black fog to slowly disperse.

"Thank God that's over," sighed Professor Oak.

"I don't feel like it's over at all," said Delia, almost tearfully. "What if one of those ... things got Ash?"

"I can't say I want to confront that possibility," admitted the professor. "Still, I'm sure that if Ash had run across them, he'd have been able to take care of himself. He'll turn up sooner or later." He put an arm around her for a bit more comfort.

Suddenly, another explosion rent the air.

As everyone attempted to dive for cover (hey, it's a lawn, how much cover do ou think there is?), Mewtres flew out of the flames, dive-bombing various members of the group before finally taking up position in the air, floating and gloating.

"What's the matter?" he laughed. "You were so confident when all of the other clones were out there. Now it's just little old me, and you're scattering like crumbly cheese."

"You'd think something with that powerful a brain could think of a better simile," muttered Tracey.

Persephone leapt into the air and fired off another Faint Attack, but the evil feline simply waved a paw, and the dark energy rebounded onto the Umbreon, which fell towards the ground, to be caught by Gary. The clone raised its arms, and a black light seemd to fade in from nowhere. "Now... feel the wrath of my ultimate power..." The dark energy collected in an orb above its head, betwen its paws- which, unknown to the humans and other Pokemon, was the manifestation of their own fear, which would have explained the next thing it called. "Phobic Force!" Mewtres threw the orb, now the size of a small car, towards the ground.

Time seemed to slow down. Misty stared up at the dark attack. _I can't believe this is it,_ she thought. _After all that we've been through... and so much more ahead of us... No, there has to be _something _we can do! We've come out of worse situations before... I think. We can't just give up! We'd be giving up on Ash- and everyone else in our lives! And I have to prove to my sisters once and for all that I can take care of myself!_

Gary clutched Persephone, hunching over her protectively. _Here I am, I've finally started to do something worthwhile and improve myself- not my talents, for once, _myself_- and now this! I can't let this all end now! Not after I was on such a good roll against the rest of these freaks and the rest of my life!_

Tracey looked up in awe at the dark ball. _If that thing wasn't about to kill me, that would make a great sketch! It's a shame... there's so much more out there I wanted to see, maybe visit that Hoenn place that the others all told me about. It sounded so beautiful... I've _ got _to see it! I'm going to keep myself alive until I've seen the entire world!_

Brock stared at his faithful Crobat, who all this time had been staying out of the way and now blasted Mewtres with repeated Supersonics, to no effect. Fortunately, the clone took no notice. _I can't give up now! My Pokemon... I can't give up my dream of being tehe greatest breeder ever... and my family will need me again, I'm certain of it..._

Delia, still holding on to the Professor, could barely choke back sobs. _My liitle boy is out there, and we can't even help him because of this thing! If it harmed Ash at all, I'll... oh, I've_ got _to find him!_

And the Professor had thoughts of his own. _I guess I don't have much left to lose, but I can't abandon my grandson. Besides, everyone seems to look up to me... Ive got to put on a brave face if we're going to get through this._

None of them knew what any other was thinking. Yet their various trains of thought ran on converging tracks, and at once, they shouted as one in defiance.

"We're not done yet... and we've got to stop you!"

Mewtres was slightly perturbed. How could they not acknowledge his might? Perhaps it was just his relative inexperience; despite his passed-on memories, he had not really encountered the will humans could summon in times of need.

And he was even more surprised to see his attack flickering as it hurtled towards the ground.

In fact... he was almost... afraid.

Enough for the dark ball to shine again, falter, and turn back.

Mewtres barely had time to realize it... it focused on the strongest source of fear it could find. And the first fear of one's life is always the worst.

The dark violet orb collided with its maker and exploded; no flames, just bright light. And when everyone's vision cleared, nothing could be seen in the sky... save for one rather dazed Crobat, clumsily winging its way to the ground, to be caught by Brock. "You were brave up there, little guy," he whispered as he brought out a Pokeball. "You'd better rest now." With a flash of red light, the purple bat was taken into its ball.

"Is it... over?" Misty ventured.

"It's hard to tell," replied Samuel Oak, walking towards the approximate center of the group, then looking up as the dark mist dissipated. "Somehow, though... I don't think they'll bother us again now."

"Thank God!" Gary cried, and nearly fell to the ground.

"We can say that after we find Ash," returned Delia.

"We're not going to find anyone in this state," offered Tracey. "I hate to admit it, but we should try to put out what's left of the fire-" he gestured towards the lab, which had mostly cooled down by now- " and relocate the Pokemon inside, then get some sleep. Is there room anywhere in the house for all of us, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"I can probably fit you all in somewhere." She nodded.

"Good. Then in the morning we'll contact the Viridian PD and get some official help, and try to rebuild this place."

Everyone reluctantly agreed, and Misty called out all of her Pokemon, and Brock called out his Lombre. They quickly doused the flames as the humans foraged inside and cleaned out the Pokeball storage, running back and forth to Delia's house with armloads of Pokeballs. Finally, an hour or so later, they all headed back to the house. Still, even as Tracey, Brock, and the Professor slumped on various sofas and chairs, Misty snuggled into the bed in a guest bedroom in case of the occasional visitor (as opposed to a refugee situation like this), Delia retired to her room, and Gary (ironically enough) occupied Ash's old bed, none of them were due for easy rest.

Yet surely none of their worries and dreams could compare to what was actually happening.

It was worse than anyone could imagine.

Ash ran down a corridor that seemed pretty much like all of the others, with blue carpeting and white walls that appeared to be some kind of plastic. His overriding thought? Find his Pokemon. Escape would hopefully be a piece of cake from there on.

_Now, if I was a maniacal, thieving businessman, where would I hide my loot?_ wondered Ash as he ran; _I've only got... how big is this place anyway?_ He stopped to think for a moment and leaned against the wall. _Let's see; any storage rooms are probably near the bottom... well, I've gotta try something._ He looked for an elevator and called it up, then punched the lowest button without looking.

Then he looked.

_L? As in lobby?_

With no other ideas, he let the ride carry him to the bottom- and gasped as the doors opened.

The elevators were lined up along a semicircular metal deck about 50' above the floor of a gigantic room; it was at ground level, as he could see through the walls, entirely made of plastic. City buildings crowded all around this place. The ceiling was 75' above floor level, 20' above the deck. The room was shaped like the bottom of a cone, 100' in diameter at the floor and 80' at the ceiling. Below there were all sorts of desks and admimistrative setups, and a pair of metal staircases hugging the wall that came up to the deck; with the deck, they stretched four fifths of the way around the room.

However, that wasn't the main thing that caught his attention.

Six Pokemon were resting along the deck, some asleep, others looking nervously around. Specifically, Totodile was staring out across the room, Treecko was practicing some sort of combat move, Muk was inert, so was a Chimecho (Ruby/Sapphire #151) that Ash had picked up in his Hoenn travels, and Kingler was snapping its claws, obviously bored.

And a little yellow Pikachu (yeah, aren't they all?) was staring at the elevators- and gave a cheerful shout before leaping into its trainer's arms, as all of the others turned and stared (waking up if necessary).

"You're... all okay..." Ash felt sudden tears of joy coming, but blinked them away. This was just too lucky. What was going _on_ here? His Pokemon had just been left here in the open? _I guess they didn't run away because they didn't want to abandon me... but then why didn't they try to find me?_

"Well, when you expect captivity and you get the option to run, you often feel tempted to stay because you just don't know what your captors have planned. It's called reverse psychology." Ash didn't have to turn around to recognize the owner of the dry, slightly mocking voice. Giovanni had set all of this up; that was clear. But why, _why,_ in God's name, _WHY?_ He turned to face the Rocket leader.

"You see?" the businessman and former Gym Leader continued. "You all still have the option to run. No one can take that away from you. No one can coerce you into doing anything you don't want to do. What can threaten you? Like I said-" Jason put his right hand on Ash's left shoulder- "you're at the pinnacle. Like I said... you deserve more. What's to lose?... ... ... We can do anything together."

Ash wasn't about to be taken in by this load, of course. Yet... who knew what _could_ happen? Maybe he could find a way to destroy the organization from inside!

And suddenly, he realized that he wasn't alone. Lined up along the wall behind their master were Jessie, Meowth, James, Butch, and Cassidy (the latter two back in their old higher-level uniforms), all trying to be impassive.

Ash put down Pikachu and bowed his head. "All right. I'll give you a chance."

Shock registered on the others' faces- except for Jason's. Out of view of all except God... he grinned. He hadn't gotten to where he was by taking bait, either. Yet this was his moment... _all_ of their moments.

"Good", he replied. He removed the hand, and Ash looked up. Giovanni turned to James, who handed him a belt with six Pokeballs on it. "Now to begin, just call back all of your Pokemon."

Ash donned the repaired belt and removed a ball, then expanded it, held it out, and shouted, "Totodile, return!" The croc disappeared in a flash of red light. He contracted the ball and reattached it to his belt. He then did the same with Treecko, Chimecho, Muk, and Kingler. He looked back at Giovanni, who was now alone.

"Call them all back," he repeated.

Ash froze for a moment, then, as if moving through water, grabbed the only empty ball from his belt, one with a distinctive lightning mark. He activated it, turned around, and held it out for a moment as the one Pokemon left looked up at its trainer with an unreadable expression.

Finally, he spoke.

"Pikachu... return."

For the first time in four years, Pikachu disappeared in a flash of red.

Ash shrank the ball and clipped it to his belt.

Jason smiled.

"Now, we'll see that you get some rest. You'll have a couple of days to get situated, and then your training will start." He turned and pressed an elevator button. The doors slid open, and the two walked inside.

They slid shut.

The End... for now


End file.
